


making a difference

by LiveLaughLovex



Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: Episode: s01e08 Lioness, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Spoilers for Episode: s01e08 Lioness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 13:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19086415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Almost a week had passed by the time Abe was finally ready to talk about it.





	making a difference

**Author's Note:**

> Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. Marines don't have that problem." - President Ronald Reagan

Captain Abraham was rather silent on their flight back to Quantico. It wasn’t exactly strange; they’d worked nonstop to prove Lieutenant Carter’s guilt, then been pulled out of bed before sunrise so that the boy’s mother could aid in establishing her innocence. His exhaustion was to be expected. It wasn’t the tired sort of silence, however. Harper couldn’t help but wonder what it was that her co-council – her _friend_ – was leaving unsaid.

There were things about Abe she’d never truly understand. She knew that. But that didn’t mean she knew nothing. They’d nearly let a good woman go to jail for eliminating a child predator before he could harm another child. And, even if he would never say it, there was absolutely no way it wasn’t eating at him.

She couldn’t come out and ask him about it, though. Abe thrived on snark, so there was no way she’d get an honest answer. So, she said nothing. She sat there, silently, and waited for him to be ready to speak about it.

He wasn’t ready by the time they reached U.S. airspace, or by the time they touched down at Quantico. He wasn’t even ready by the time they left the office that afternoon. In fact, it took him nearly a week, and he didn’t do it at the office. He showed up at her apartment, instead.

“Hey.” His hands were in his pockets, his eyes full of needless apologies. “I know it’s late.”

“It’s not three-thirty,” Harper pointed out, stepping aside to allow him in. “You rank ahead of Rami.” She closed the door behind them, then turned to face him. “What’s going on?”

“I was never okay with it,” he informed her, his words rushed. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, unsure of what he meant. “About what Sarbani did to that boy,” he clarified. “It’s not that I was okay with it. That’s not why I needed someone else to say it.”

“Abe, I’ve known you for a while now. You didn’t need to show up here and tell me that.”

“It’s just – I have kids in my life,” he explained quietly. “Kids that I’d – God, if anyone did to Dani or Maggie what Sarbani did to that boy, I’d kill them on the spot. Well, no, I would torture them first, then I’d kill them.”

“Well,” Harper exhaled. “If that happened, I’d gladly switch sides and save your ass.”

Abe chuckled hollowly. “Thanks.” He hesitated for a moment. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen that. What was done to that boy. We, uh, we were always told to stay out of it, and I wasn’t at a place where I – I couldn’t bring myself to disobey orders. And the kids that did come forward, they usually vanished within twenty-four hours. There wasn’t a good option. It was always this – this impossible thing.”  

“I don’t begrudge you that decision,” Harper murmured, falling silent when he met her gaze. “For what it’s worth, sir, you did a good thing in that courtroom. You got justice for the boy, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

“Oh, it feels like it. I’m just caught up on the fact that I almost didn’t.”

“You can’t get caught up on what almost happened, Captain,” Harper advised.

“Abe,” he corrected. “I barged into your apartment at ten o’clock at night. You can call me Abe.”

“Abe,” she amended. “Look, I’ve learned a lot from my personal experiences in the past few weeks, you can’t focus on the what-ifs. It’ll drive you crazy.”

“Personal experience, huh?” Abe seemed glad for the chance to change the subject. “I meant to say this before we left Afghanistan, Harper, but if anyone in your life can’t accept you for who you are and what you’ve done, then that’s their issue. It’s not yours. They pin those stars to heroes, and that’s exactly what you are. Screw what Brad thinks of it.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can go that far,” Harper murmured, smiling slightly at the passion with which he defended her against people who weren’t even present. She was beginning to understand why so many of those they worked with were glad to count Abe amongst their friends. “I am marrying the man in a few months, after all.”

“If he can’t accept that you’re good at what you do, whether it’s in the courtroom or on the battlefield, then he obviously needs some sense shaken into him,” Abe insisted. “Hell, I’ll even volunteer to do it.”

“Of course you will,” she muttered, shaking her head wryly. “You’ve wanted to do that since the day you met him.”

“Since the day you told me his name was Bard, actually,” Abe informed her, smirking at the look she shot him before sobering. “Seriously though, Harper, you don’t have to apologize for being who you are. You _shouldn’t_ have to, at least. That’ll eat you up inside, too, same as thinking about the what-ifs.”

“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “I’m not apologizing. I’m just pissing a lot of people off by refusing to. My mother, specifically. She’s started sending me messages in Mandarin now.”

“That sounds fun.” Abe chuckled at her clear exasperation. “By the way, there’s a new carton of soymilk in the fridge. Uh, one of the captains in Defense keeps stealing it when you’re out of the office.”

“And you let him?” Harper questioned incredulously.

“Her, actually. And, oh, would you look at the time.” Abe glanced at his wrist, staring at a watch he wasn’t wearing. “You know, we’ve got to be at the office at, like, seven o’clock in the morning, so you should probably go to sleep…”

“Don’t let people steal my soymilk,” she ordered laughingly, rolling her eyes as he backed toward her front door. “Promise me.”

“I promise I’ll stop her next time,” he swore, turning the knob. “I really do have to go, though. I’m making the school run with Dani in the morning, I’ve got to be there early.”

“All right,” Harper agreed. “Thanks for dropping by, talking it out. Your brooding wasn’t really appreciated. I was about to shake some sense into _you_.”

“Stopped by just in time, huh?” Abe teased. “Good night, Lieutenant Li.”

“’Night, Captain Abraham,” Harper returned formally, smiling as she closed the door behind him.

Sure, he was a pain in the ass 99% of the time. She’d long since grown used to that. But it turned out he was actually a pretty decent friend, too, and, not for the first time, she was glad to have him around.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what was going on with Abe in that courtroom, because he seemed to be over it on the flight. I might be totally off-base, but this was just my take on some of his issues. Plus, you know, I love Abe and Harper's friendship, so I wanted to have him say something about what was going on with Harper.


End file.
